Every relationship is founded on mutual benefit

How different or similar we are, how in love with each other or how disgusted with one another — makes no matter. As long as there’s a common ground of mutual benefit — there is a RELATIONSHIP

Society is a relationship as well

It’s more people connected in immeasurable ways.

But it still hinges on the common ground of mutual benefit

 

Some people get along with others well

The true meaning of getting along with others well is what one is able to ACCOMPLISH with others

It’s not how well you agree on some bullshit.

It’s how well you agree on that which matters to both of you, and benefits both of you.

 

Like individuals — so is society more capable or less capable of getting along with itself

Which means it’s more capable or less capable of ACCOMPLISHING MORE TOGETHER

The superior society can accomplish more as a unit

The inferior society accomplishes less

Or even self-destructs

 

Indeed accomplishing more is neither a function of blind agreement, nor of ruthless competition

The beauty of the West is that we have found wonderful balance between AGREEMENT on a set of core values — and DISAGREEMENT and COMPETITION and INDIVIDUALITY where it’s healthy and productive

What results is that Western societies are well poised to defend themselves from adversaries, including those from within (like hostile agents, criminals)

While in the same time individuality is upheld, and thus harvesting the greatest of any society: which is it’s individuals, individual potential and individual responsibility

 

This takes us to the main point of this text,

I think we are currently at the BOTTOM of our ability as a society to ACCOMPLISH THINGS TOGETHER

And this is because of our compromised ability to AGREE on the most BASIC THINGS

 

I can neither explain what made us more intelligent and concordant as a society in the past — nor what must be changed today

I can’t prove whether society was self-regulating itself to intelligent common ground, or whether it was steered by the increasing wisdom of the institutions, top-down

The problem of unintelligent mass is as old as the world

The problem of corruption at the top is as old as the world

The problem of populism and demagogy is as old as the world

The problem of collective delusions is as old as the world

The problem of societal polarisation is as old as the world

 

But being aware of those problems doesn’t equal knowing solutions

The only thing I know is that it has gotten worse

 

I believe social media is to blame

There have always been bad actors

There have always been stupid people

There have always been lying press

There have always been surges of populism

There have always been inequality

There have always been bad ideas

But there hasn’t always been social media

 

I believe social media destroys society’s ability to reach consensus

This includes agreeing on basic truths — which social media are so keen on undermining

 

(Honourable mention must go to church and religion — which are effectively dying in the West — or devolving into even inferior alternatives

This is another vital change)

 

Social media’s impact doesn’t contain itself within the social media and among the social media users.

Social media changed the paradigm of regular media

Which in turn guided how politicing was conducted

And in essence ways in which any public institution is now conducted

Or even any relationship, potentially

It doesn’t have to “be on social media” — to be impacted by social media

 

I do not know what will be of social media

It is not only instrument of mass-delusion, propagation if misinformation, and root of FOMO and insecurity

It is also instrument of instantaneous insight, unlimited access to wisdom, transnational cooperation and decentralisation of power, knowledge, truth and truth-seeking

 

I can only imagine that like with every other tool — we will have to learn how to use it

And the hope is that we learn it before we damage ourselves beyond repair

Like getting a car — one must first learn to drive it — and hopefully not crash it into a fucking tree and DIE before one has learned

So must the society learn and relearn:

-To separate truth from nonsense

-To agree on vital matters

-To actually submit to the authority — for their own good

-To rediscover the true core values we share — rather than destroy them in vacuous immature attempts of bringing forth an utopia

-And to despise untruth, BULLSHIT, lies, disingenuity

 

There is hope

-There was rise in online scams — and now they are starting to get uncovered, and punished

-Clickbaits and attention seeking at any cost continues to increase — but one can observe some opting to instead double down on integrity

-The reality continues being twisted, made more ugly than it actually is, or more idealised than it could ever be — but for every such perversion there seems to be a clarifying reaction, a “debunk”, a “reveal”… often also inaccurate, but indeed representing the collective discourse

-There’s of course increasing stupidity and confusion — but I for one can attest to the unbelievable educational power of the internet

-Not least the unbelievable amplification of original voices previously unheard — which again is a double edged sword, as likely to increase madness as it is to enlighten

 

My unfortunate prediction is that we will fail this test, for a generation or two

There’s real danger of the West self-destructing

I really hope it won’t happen

 

I actually believe we must be even more hands-off, libertarian and free-market to weather this challenge

I’m not speaking generally, I’m speaking specifically as a response to this predicament

Because the stupidity will rise

You don’t want those idiots in leadership positions

You’d rather they starve to death, sad but true

You want the market, the system to naturally weed them out. We will be too confused to do it ourselves, and the world will be only more complicated.

We will have to bet on a ruthless but decently self-regulating system

Let’s hope that before they starve — they will have decided to educate themselves someplace other than youtube or instagram

 

Of course we can’t censor the internet. Besides that being impossible — it would be an utter betrayal of everything that made the West great

Great ideas are born out of freedom. Then those ideas are developed by voluntary support of others. And finally they survive the real test of time, the test of REAL WORLD USEFULNESS.

This is the core value which made the West great.

The price is we sometimes suffer horrible ideas, and let them linger — but all that so that we can also let the GOOD IDEAS prove themselves, and eventually THRIVE

This is what must come of social media

 

So of course since it won’t be regulated top-down — we will have to learn to self-regulate

Which will take a generation or two

And an increase in inequality

Just like steam engine separated those willing to adapt and learn from those unready and sceptical and incapable

 

Finally, speaking of self-regulation,

As you’ll continue observing those around you go mad — to SELF-REGULATE is not to go mad oneself

And to SELF-REGULATE is to voice your dissent to the madness around you

That means you will express your opinion about the LUNACY you observe

Not to the world, which, unless you’re someone important, is just virtue signalling

But to those you have RELATIONSHIPS with

Tell them they are wrong,

Now is your test

You should always speak your mind

But when you all agreed — it was easy

Now is the test — because now you have to tell them that they are brain-rotten due to social media and misinformation

 

And this is NOT like your USUAL STUPID QUARREL ABOUT POLITICS or some nonsense. That anyone can do, and is inconsequential

This is not another silly quarrel when both of you are wrong and subject has no bearing on the MUTUAL BENEFIT on which your relationship is founded

This one is EXISTENTIAL

You just don’t know it yet

But this one is existential

 

This one is like choosing who you’ll take on the ship with you, and who you must leave behind

It’s VETTING them carefully

And screening for any signs of the MODERN BRAIN DAMAGE:

–denial of the utmost foundations of how the world functions

-increasingly ignorant and stupid voices, the distance between what-one-knows and what-one-thinks-he-knows

–relativisation of everything

-and corollary subjectification, making everything a matter of opinion

-only to nevertheless jump headlong into idealisation and demonization

Again, it’s human condition to be ignorant, stupid, confused

But it has gotten worse

 

This one is existential, i.e. this time it does matter that you CHOOSE someone NOT in your life

Because this time the subject is not trivial matter of opinion

Society is just a massive number of relationships

SOME of those relationships are your relationships

So before the world has gone mad, which it will, please watch just the tiny incremental decrease in quality around you, in your own relationships

Improve them or destroy them

This is how we will one day self-regulate